The Luving Company is raising on StartEngine at a $4.98 million valuation with no discount. Notably, this is a significantly higher valuation than was offered on SharkTank earlier this year (sharks were offered an 8% stake in exchange for $200,000, implying a $2.5 million valuation). However, a price bump over the last six months is understandable given that the SharkTank exposure boosted KidsLuv’s brand significantly, and the company has achieved other milestones since that appearance. 

Overall, this price is reasonable — but not a steal given the company’s current traction and market size. Therefore, The Luving Company’s price rating is moderate.

The Luving Company is capitalizing on the intersection of the children’s beverage and pediatric supplements markets. 

The children’s beverage market is typically wrapped into market sizing estimates for children’s food and beverages. A 2020 estimate of that market projects that it will reach $147 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 5.1% in the United States. Assuming conservatively that beverages compose just 25% of that market, The Luving Company’s addressable market in beverages is roughly $37 billion. 

The pediatric supplements market was sized at roughly $573 million in 2015. Roughly one-third of U.S. children are estimated to take some sort of daily vitamin. If The Luving Company can capture 5% of these combined markets, it would be serving a roughly $1.9 billion market. This market is good-sized, but not huge. Therefore, The Luving Company’s market score is relatively low.

The Luving Company was founded by Ashi Jelinek, a mom who realized that there weren’t enough healthy drink options for her kids. Jelinek’s background prior to launching The Luving Company is unclear. Her LinkedIn profile lists only a Bachelor of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts. 

Beyond Jelinek, The Luving Company is powered by Jenn Goodrum as Director of Sales and Marketing and Mary Allard as Operations Manager. Goodrum has a background in consumer packaged goods, with experience at Swisse Wellness, Popchips, and Healthy Times. She manages brand launches, product packaging, and marketing campaigns. Allard has served as the General Manager and COO of three health product brands. She manages logistics and administration for The Luving Company. 

While Goodrum and Allard lend valuable CPG, marketing, and operations experience to The Luving Company, our team score is low because there are few details on Jelinek’s background with which to assess the expertise she brings to the company.

The Luving Company is on the leading edge of kids beverage brands prioritizing low sugar and vitamin enhancement. KidsLuv drinks compete with Capri Sun, Sunny-D, and basic juice boxes but are a significantly healthier choice than any of those brands. The health benefits of KidsLuv make them a popular choice with health-conscious millennial moms. 

However, there are several companies offering healthier kids beverage options that are tangential to KidsLuv. For example, Creative Roots also offers flavored waters for kids with low-sugar (though those drinks contain 1 gram, more than KidsLuv’s 0 grams). The popular adult flavored water company Hint has begun to offer kids’ flavored water boxes, though they are not vitamin-enhanced. 

Therefore, KidsLuv’s differentiation score is its strongest, but not perfect.

The Luving Company does not offer many performance details on their StartEngine raise page. A peek into the company’s Form C filing documents reveals financials (that appear to be unaudited) listing over $322,000 in sales for January through August of 2020. However, The Luving Company posted a net loss of over $383,000 over that time period. 

The Luving Company is an early-stage business, and these results are typical for a CPG brand just getting off the ground. Therefore, the company’s performance score is moderate.

The Luving Company’s drink offerings are unique on the market. However, the company has posted only average traction despite a big marketing opportunity on SharkTank earlier this year. Price might be a factor: KidsLuv drinks are available in 16-packs for $37.99 on Amazon, a per-bottle price of $2.38. While KidsLuv drinks are demonstrably healthier than traditional alternatives like Capri Sun, a 10-pack of Capri Sun is much cheaper. 

Based on this moderate early traction, The Luving Company may struggle to grow beyond a traditional small business. Investors may not reap impressive returns, which is a particular concern at The Luving Company’s relatively high valuation.

The Luving Company has secured distinctive, sustainable product packaging, a well-designed brand, and established distribution channels in over 1,500 stores in two years of operation. Moreover, KidsLuv got a major boost from founder Ashi Jelinek’s Shark Tank appearance — that level of publicity is a dream for early-stage companies. 

The Luving Company is one of the first innovators in healthy kids beverages. It has the opportunity to build a loyal customer base with high lifetime value potential (particularly through subscription deals via the KidsLuv website and Amazon’s subscribe and save program). If The Luving Company can leverage capital from this fundraise to expand distribution channels and launch multichannel marketing campaigns, it could build a moat that other kids beverage competitors struggle to cross. 

The Luving Company produces zero-sugar, vitamin-enhanced flavored beverages for kids. Millennial moms love these drinks because they know that sodas, fruit juices, and even other purportedly water-based drinks contain far too much added sugar. KidsLuv are some of the only zero-sugar, vitamin-rich kids drinks on the market. The Luving Company has already built a good-sized brand via Shark Tank and other publicity.

On the other hand, The Luving Company’s early performance figures don’t quite match what you’d expect from a company with strong distribution channels and a national television appearance. The Luving Company may be struggling to resonate with the average American mom with KidsLuv drinks’ relatively high price point. Therefore, The Luving Company has been rated a Neutral Deal. 

For questions regarding the KingsCrowd staff pick or ratings for this company, please reach out to support@kingscrowd.com. 

Analysis written by Katy Dolan.